


Hold Onto Faith

by PagetPaulson



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-08
Updated: 2014-11-28
Packaged: 2018-02-24 15:45:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 12,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2586986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PagetPaulson/pseuds/PagetPaulson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He had no way to clutch to reality anymore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Waking up in his bed for the third time that week, Aaron Hotchner balled his hands into fists. He was getting aggravated with having to stay confined in the white room with the dank green curtains to surround the bed when a doctor came into speak with him, his ass going numb from sitting up throughout the day and not being allowed to get up and at least walk outside so he could get a breath of the fresh, nontoxic air.

He had been in the hospital due to a car crash, his ex-wife swerving out of the way of a drunk driver in a gasoline truck and smashing into the rails that lined the highway. They had been going to pick up their son from his daycare to tell him that they would be spending their Christmas together, and Aaron had never heard from him after that phone call.

Haley, the ex, had wanted to keep their boy away from the hospital for a few more days. She had gotten out of the accident with only a few stitches to the head.

Aaron had been paralyzed.

He had been sitting in the passenger seat of his ex's car and had gotten the brunt of the crash, the hood and front of the car becoming so crushed and mangled that his left leg, up to his knee, and his entire right foot were stuck between the metal and gears.

After the surgeries, the doctors had concluded that he wouldn't feel any sensation in the limbs that had been injured, and Aaron had found himself sobbing into his ex's arms one he had been told the news.

His son, a four year old blond blue eyed little boy named Jack, had only been able to speak to him on the phone, and for the two hours he rambled on to his father about school and his new favorite color, Aaron's hand was clutched around his hospital blanket, trying to note let his tears leak onto his pale face.

"Mr. Hotchner?"

Aaron looked up from his lap and toward his room's door. "Yes?"

The nurse that had been helping him and giving him his medications smiled, clasping her hands before her stomach. "It's time to say goodbye," she said sadly.

"What do you mean? Do I get to leave?"

"No," the blond haired woman sighed. "You aren't allowed to leave until the doctors know exactly what to do with physical therapy and the healing of your legs. But I am on leave for the next two months because I've banked up my vacation days, so there is going to be a new nurse taking care of you."

Aaron tried his best to smile at the older woman. "Well no one will be as good as you, Sheila."

The gray eyed woman laughed at the sentence and dismissed it with a wave. "No worries, you are going to love Nurse Emily. She has been here for two years, transferred to our hospital from New York. She's just fantastic."

Watching the optimistic woman walk out of the room, Aaron leaned back against his pillow. The one good part of his day for the couple that he'd been stuck in the hospital was getting to have conversations with the delightful nurse that always got him to smile, and now someone had taken her place.

It was as if nothing could go right in his life anymore.

A knocking on the door caught his attention, and his eyes immediately met those of a gorgeous dark haired woman standing there. "Mr. Hotchner?"

Aaron quickly nodded his head. "Yes, that's me."

She grinned, stepping into the room with a new IV bag in her hand. "Hi," she said politely. "My name is Emily and I'm going to be your new nurse."

"It's very nice to meet you." She was gorgeous.

Emily's lips curved into a delicate smile as she switched out the IV bags, shooting in just short of an ounce of morphine through the tube that led to the insertion in the patient's elbow. "Sheila told me some things about you so I know how to treat you exactly right," the brunette whispered charmingly. "How do you feel about an extra piece of cake when lunch comes around?"

Aaron felt himself smile up to the younger woman, knowing that the desserts changed every day and Sheila had always tried to do her best to get him extra delicacies. "I would love that. Unless it gets you in trouble, then nevermind."

"Trouble?" Her brown eyes rolled and she set a hand to his shoulder. "You leave those doctors to me."

Aaron laughed, seeing the sparkle in her eyes that he used to see in his ex's when they had first met back in high school. "Yes ma'am."


	2. Chapter 2

Her eyes narrowed on the cards, brows furrowing as she thought, Emily's hand came up and took a penny from her stack. "Raise," the nurse said confidently, grinning to the older man who sat in the bed. "Your turn."

Aaron met the beautiful man's dark eyes and gave her a sneer. "A little cocky, are we?" They were up to thirty-four coins in the pot.

"Confident," Emily corrected, her fingers gripping the cards in her hand lightly.

"You think you'll beat me."

Emily's brows raised high into her hairline as she shook her head, her brown hair in a ponytail swaying behind her head. "Whatever do you mean?"

The man confined to his bed let his features grow cold. "Shouldn't you be going on your rounds?"

Shrugging, the nurse looked back down to her hand. "I'm on break for another six minutes," she whistled cheerily. "I'm all yours."

Aaron kept his huff in, glancing down to the cards he had in the hand he'd been dealt. He was never going to win with the crap cards he had been given, and he knew the woman sitting before him had an inkling of his defeat.

"Are you going to bet or not?"

The father of one looked up to the nurse and hid his smirk. "Give me a minute, will you?"

Emily smiled, shrugging her delicate shoulders.

"Alright," he sighed almost dramatically, setting his cards face down on his bed sheet. "I fold."

The nurse's lips formed a perfectly shaped 'o' as she threw down her cards and picked up all the pennies. "Well thank you."

Aaron smiled at the joy he saw on the younger woman's face. "So what did you have?"

"Oh I'm not telling you."

"Why not?" the sick man laughed, watching Emily put all the coins in her skirt pocket.

Emily smiled up to the older man. "That's not how the game works," she said saucily, her voice dropping to a seductive note as she sent him a grin. "Learn the rules, Hotchner."

Aaron's eyes darkened when he saw the top of his new nurse's drop as she leaned forward to fix his blanket and collect the cards, and he felt his mouth go dry.

Her breasts were contained underneath her stark white outfit with a lace bra, the angelic white fabric brightening the skin of her ivory body that much more.

"So," Emily interrupted, hiding her smirk at the direction his eyes were looking before she stood straight. "I am due back on duty in about thirty seconds, so you get yourself cleaned up and I'll be off to my next patient."

The brunette man frowned. "I have to clean up?"

Emily, smiling cautiously to the handsome man, leaning forward and wiped the pudding from the corner of his mouth with her thumb.

"I had that there the whole time and you didn't tell me?"

The nurse let out a laugh at the wide eyed man in the bed. "I thought you'd notice," she chuckled, going to wipe her fingers on a napkin on his nightstand. "I'll see you when I'm due back to you, alright?"

Aaron nodded, sharing a small smile with the beautiful woman before she left his room.

He didn't even get a chance to move his hands over to the remote for his television before there was a knock on his door.

"Checkup," the voice laughed, Emily's head popping into view.

Aaron laughed at the joyous look on the younger woman's face, amazed that after something as drastic as his accident he could even think of smiling. "What are you doing back?"

"Didn't you hear me say that I had a patient to go to?"

His brown eyes caught the sponges and gloves she was carrying in with her, and he nodded. "And that's me."

"Correct," she grinned. The nurse removed the sheet from Aaron's immobile legs and put his arm around her neck so she could help him up, and the brunette woman gently settled him down in his wheelchair.

"I hate this thing," the father of one growled, his hands curling around the arms as he was rolled toward his bathroom. "Where exactly are we going?"

"Bath time," Emily answered simply.


	3. Chapter 3

"There's no need to be nervous," the nurse tried to sooth, her hand touching Aaron's shoulder as he sat staring at the tub.

He shook his head, breathing out a sigh. "I'm not nervous." He was angry.

Emily tried to catch the older man's nervous eyes as they darted around the steaming water that filled up the tub. "We don't have to do this right now," she nodded, a breath passing her lips. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"If we wait until tomorrow to do it, I'm still not going to want to."

Emily licked her lips. "Can you tell me why?"

Aaron glared at the steam coming from the water before him. "I want to do it myself." It didn't matter how much his new nurse had helped him forget for a few hours because now reality was back.

The ebony haired vixen's eyes softened on the father of one. "I know this is hard."

"Is it?"

Emily set her hand over his. "It's going to take a while to be ok with your life being different for now, but our doctors are going to do their best to help you with your legs."

Aaron cursed himself and forced the tears to leave his stinging eyes. "How long will it take?"

"It may be years," she whispered. "It's hard to tell."

"I don't want my son to see me like this."

The brown eyed woman tried her best to suck back her sympathy for him, and shook her head as she caught his attention. "Your son is not going to love you any less. You told me he's four, right?" Emily smiled when he pathetically nodded to her. "You're still going to be his daddy. He's still going to love you, is he not?"

"I hop so," he whispered brokenly.

Emily's lips tightened into a thin line before standing back up and untying his hospital gown.

Aaron kept his eyes on the water as the fabric left his body, and he immediately felt a breeze. "It's cold."

"That's because you're naked," she stated matter-of-factly.

He felt the hair on his arms stand up when her warm hands touched his skin and helped him out of his seat. She was incredibly strong, able to carry most of his weight while his hands gripped the edges of the tub to pull himself in.

"You got it?"

Aaron groaned at the heat of the water before finally sitting himself down.

Emily smiled to herself. He did it. "Ok, now you can wash yourself and do whatever you need to do. I'm just here to make sure that nothing happens."

"Right," the older man bit out bitterly. "I could slip under and not be able to push myself back up."

Emily kept her patience in check, having dealt with angry patients before. "So your son, what's his name?" She decided to keep the atmosphere light to try and break him from the anger holding him back.

The dark eyed man nodded his thank you to the brunette beside the tub when she handed him a cup to fill up with water. "Jack."

She watched as he poured the water onto his head to get ready for the shampoo. "That's a sweet name," she smiled, her chin settled in the palm of her hand.

"It's actually John Gabriel, but we call him Jack. It was Haley's grandfather's name."

"And Haley is his mother," she nodded thoughtfully, keeping everything he was telling her in a little vault in her mind.

Aaron nodded, closing his eyes and focusing on massaging the suds into his dirty hair as he listened to her melodic voice. "Right."

Emily bit her lip. "You and Haley aren't together?"

"No, she ended up falling in love with someone else."

Her heart broke to hear the coldness seeping from his voice, and her fingers gently itched at the small freckles on her cheek. "I'm so sorry," came the sigh. "I know how that feels."

Aaron frowned at the words and washed the soap from his eyes before looking back to her. "You do?"

"I was engaged to be married, and I walked into the house that he was moving into with me and found him with his assistant," the nurse shrugged, a sad smiling gracing her face. "The assistant was also a man, so I guess I kind of dodged a bullet with the marriage."

Aaron let out a sigh. "I'm sorry."

Emily's chocolate eyes followed the movements with his hands and shook her head. "Things happen."

Breathing in the steam that now surrounded them in the small bathroom, the father of one found himself closing his eyes and giving a shake of the head. "I hate the hospital," he said with disdain. "It smells like death."

Emily found herself chuckling at the logic of the older man, and her eyes connected with his when he looked her way. "The smell of death is greater out there with the murders and attacks than in here. It's clean in here," came the whimsical words, Emily's eyes dazing slightly. "People live here. They live."

Hearing the words from the younger brunette, his eyes finally watering when she reached forward and fixed his leg that he didn't even know was pushed up against the side of the tub, the man in charge of one of the FBI's most valuable units began to cry.


	4. Chapter 4

"Aaron?" the scared voice called out, and he scrunched up his features. "Aaron, can you hear me?"

The paralyzed man set a hand to his head as he slowly sat up, his eyes opening to see his ex-wife sitting there. "Haley, hi."

Haley smiled softly to the injured man. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired," the groggy man ground out, massaging his temples with his fingers. "This morphine puts me out so fast I don't even know what's happening." Finally opening his eyes to their normal width, Aaron settled comfortably against his pillow. "So what are you doing here?"

The blond woman's plain features tried for a smile. "I couldn't get him to stop asking about you."

Aaron's face immediately lit up, the thought of his little boy making him the happiest he ever could be. "You brought him for me?"

"Yeah," she said emotionally. "He really missed his daddy."

"Where is he?"

Haley wiped her tears as she turned in her chair to see out the window of the room. "Your nurse said she'd take care of him until I finished talking to you."

His eyes drifted over to the hallway to see his nurse bending down to his son's level and handing him a red lollipop, the beautiful brunette woman breaking out into a grin when Jack hugged her as a thank you. "That was sweet of her."

Haley's eyes darkened when she saw him light up when he saw the nurse through the window, and her upper lip twitched.

"Daddy!"

Aaron waited for his ex to lift an excited Jack up onto his lap before wrapping his arm as tight around the four year old as he could, his watering eyes closing as he nuzzled into his hair. "Hey buddy," he cracked.

The blond boy squeezed his father tight. "I missed you daddy."

"I missed you too buddy. How are you liking your Christmas break?"

Jack pouted. "Mommy said we was gonna have it together," the your year old groaned. "But you are here."

Aaron gave a soft nod of the head. "Yeah bud, I got a little hurt."

"Your daddy is having some trouble with his legs," his mother piped up from the plastic chair at the foot of the bed.

"My legs aren't working right now."

Jack looked confused. "Why not?"

Aaron shrugged, trying his best not to grow sad in front of his four year old. "I had an accident, and I'm going to have to stay in here for a while."

"You know what, daddy? Emily gave me a lolli."

"I saw," the injured man smiled, connecting his eyes with those of the brunette watching the interaction from the doorway. "How did she know red was your favorite?"

Emily crossed her arms over her breasts, watching the family from her spot by the door.

Jack's jaw dropped. "I don't know!"

Sharing a look with his ex when she waved at him to get his attention, he nodded. "Ok buddy, you have to go back with mommy now because it's grandpa's birthday. You remember what you do on grandpa's birthday?"

"Dinner," the blond nodded.

"So you go with mommy and I'll see you in a little bit. I love you."

Jack threw his tiny arms around his father's neck one last time before letting his mother pick him up and settle him on her hip. "Bye daddy," he waved, his voice sad as he was carried out.

"He's precious," the nurse said quietly, making her way up to the hospital bed. "He looks so much like you."

Aaron slowly nodded his head. "Thank you."

Emily sat herself down in a plastic chair just beside the bed and rubbed her hand down his back, seeing the tears in his eyes began to leak and drip down his cheeks. "Let it out," she nodded, wanting him to get all of it out while he could.

"He didn't care. He didn't care that I was different."

"I told you, didn't I?"

Aaron turned as much as he could and brought the shocked woman into a hug, crying on her shoulder as he thought of his son.


	5. Chapter 5

_He groaned, hands clenching the sheets of his bed as he watched his nurse stop beside him._

_She slowly hiked her sterile skirt up with her hands, the tops of her thigh-highs peeking out before she climbed onto the bed. Her dark hair was out of the bun and those straight as a pin locks were flowing just down below her shoulders, but the darkness couldn't hide the passionate eyes that looked his way._

_Watching as she winked at him, her teeth nibbling into her bottom lip, before she turned so her back was facing him. He felt her begin to massage his legs, her hands moving down until he couldn't feel it anymore because of his injury, and he saw her naked ass flash him as she bent down to lay kisses along his legs._

_Emily ran her hands down her stomach once she sat back up, and she let out a sigh of pleasure. There was no dialogue between them, but when she raised his gown and ran her hand down his length and heard him breathe in, she knew it wasn't needed._

_She threw her head back, smirking down onto the father of one and moaning to let him know that she liked it._

"Aaron?"

The injured man's face contorted as the familiar voice floated through his ears, and he slowly opened his eyes.

Emily smiled to the waking man. "Hey there sleepyhead," the brown eyed woman laughed. "You slept pretty well, didn't you?"

Realizing the scene that he had become so in love with was just a dream, Aaron shook his head, letting the nurse that had been taking care of him press the button on his bed to sit him up. "How long was I out?"

"About ten hours," she chuckled, fixing his pillow behind his head. "We didn't wake you for breakfast because I thought you could use some more sleep before we got ready for today."

Aaron looked up to the younger woman with a small frown. "What's today?" he questioned.

"Your first day to stand," Emily smiled charmingly, speaking in a whisper to make the big deal try to be delivered lightly.

"Really?" He didn't think he was ready for that.

Emily sat herself down on the edge of the older man's bed and let her shoulders somewhat slouch to ease the tension. "It's very unlikely that we're going to get you standing on your own today, the doctors and I are going to be there to help you. This is just a test to see how we're going to do everything with treatment and therapy considering your condition."

Aaron held in his sigh.

"Do you want to talk about something?"

The father of one hesitantly looked up into the beautiful brunette's caring eyes and let her see just how scared he really was. "What if I fall?" he asked in a pained whisper, sounding more like a child than a grown man.

Emily felt her heart break for him. He was scared. "That's why the doctors and I are there," she soothed. "We'll make sure nothing happens."

He waited a good twenty minutes as his nurse and the doctors got everything ready before Emily came back and helped him into his wheelchair. His brown brows rose just an inch when she gave him a pat on the shoulder, but he let it go, enjoying the comfort he felt in the gentle touch.

"Dr. Herman," Emily smiled, rounding the corner with Aaron in his wheelchair. "Mr. Hotchner is ready."

"Hello Mr. Hotchner, how are you feeling today?"

Aaron shook the man's hand. "I still can't feel anything."

The older man looked sympathetic toward the paralyzed man. "That's to be expected, sadly."

"Do you really think I'll be able to feel anything or walk again?"

Emily kept her face straight as she heard the pained words leave her patient's mouth.

Dr. Herman tried for a smile. "Mr. Hotchner, we've been successful getting four of our paralyzed patients back to normal with physical therapy, and that's just in our town alone."

"Four out of how many?" the brunette man asked bitterly.

Dr. Herman's face fell. "Out of at least a hundred."

Aaron rolled his eyes, looking down to his lap as two graduate students who were training in that hospital rushed over to him. "So I have a really small chance of getting better," he nodded to himself.

The nurse bent down and gave him a smile before they all helped him out of his chair. "You ok?"

Aaron grunted as they all lifted him up, and he could feel his body suspended from the ground.

"Alright Mr. Hotchner, we're going to slowly lower you to the ground."

He felt as they began to lower him, his body inching closer to the ground in just a mere amount of seconds, before they suddenly stopped. "Is everything alright?" His body didn't feel as suspended anymore, but he couldn't tell why.

Emily sighed into the older man's shoulder as she continued to hold him.

His feet were on the floor.


	6. Chapter 6

"Hello, is this Ms. Brooks?"

Haley frowned on the other end of the line, setting down her son on the couch as she went to take the call in the kitchen. "This is. Who is this?"

"This is Emily Prentiss from Washington Memorial. I'm Aaron's nurse, I don't know if you remember."

"Oh of course," she nodded, a small pang of jealousy hitting her heart at the memory of her ex smiling when he saw that brunette woman pop up in his doorway when she and their son went to visit. "Is something wrong with Aaron?"

Emily sat herself down behind the front desk on her floor and looked down to the list she had compiled. "There is nothing wrong that we didn't know already was, Ms. Brooks. But your ex-husband today, when we were first helping him see if he could stand on his own, didn't know that his feet were touching the ground. This means that all the nerves, at least in his feet and ankles, are dead."

Haley sighed, setting her head in her hand.

"This doesn't mean that they're gone forever though. Our hospital has had great success with getting those who have become paralyzed to get back on their feet or have their arms or just fingers moving again. It might take a while, but due to the degree of injury your ex-husband has and those who we've been successful with, we see great potential for him."

"How long will it take?"

Emily sucked her bottom lip into her mouth as she flipped through the pages on her clipboard. "It may take a few years for Aaron to have his legs working again, but there are techniques with physical therapy we will use, and test drugs that he has been willing to take to get his muscles and nerves working again."

The blond mother of one looked over to the living room to make sure her son was still preoccupied with the television. "He's agreed to taking drugs?"

"They're new in our department and Aaron has volunteered to take them to see how they work, along with his physical therapy," the nurse nodded. "He is very ready to get back on his feet. Your ex-husband is very determined to get better for himself, but mostly for his son."

Haley sighed. "Well what can I do?"

"Help him once he's released from the hospital with moving around the house and taking on the exercises that we do in his therapy sessions."

"I'm sorry, I can't do that," the younger woman dismissed. "I have a fiancé and my son to take care of, I can't possibly take Aaron into my house."

Emily frowned at the words that came across the line. "I'm sorry Ms. Brooks but someone needs to be taking care of your ex-husband while he gets better, and his parents are both deceased."

"I can't take him in for over a year when I have my own life going on."

The brunette nurse pursed her red lips. Selfish bitch. "The only other possible way for this to be done is if he has a live-in nurse with him, and that will cost at least a thousand dollars a month due to their presence and the medications they'll provide."

"That's fine," Haley nodded against the phone. "Aaron has the funds for that."

"Actually Ms. Brooks, we took a look at his records and his medical insurance will not cover it. The next option for payment would be you, the one who is his next of kin."

The blond woman ran her fingers roughly through her hair. "So I have to pay at least twelve thousand dollars all for this treatment."

"I'm sorry ma'am, but yes. There are always installment policies that we can go over."

"It's fine," the mother growled, picking up her son as he ran to her from his spot on the couch. "Just get him someone and we can talk about this later, I have to make my son dinner."

Emily pulled the phone from her ear when she heard it disconnect, glaring at the plastic device before setting it back in its receiver. "You're welcome."

"Nurse Prentiss," the doctor greeted as he walked up to the front desk. "Did we find someone to take care of Mr. Hotchner when he's released?"

"Actually sir, his ex-wife refuses to let him into her home for the time that is expected for him to get better. We need to find a nurse to stay with him full time," she shrugged. "But I was wondering if I could be the nurse for him."

"You?"

Emily vigorously nodded her head. "I've been helping him so far, sir. I think it would be easiest for me to go with him when he's released instead of having to train a completely different nurse." _Please say yes._


	7. Chapter 7

_"Please," she begged, her dark eyes meeting his through the dark tendrils of her hair that became a curtain around her face as she braced herself on the older man's strong shoulders. "Deeper."_

_Aaron grunted as he thrust up, feeling the tip of his prick bouncing off of the brunette's cervix._

_"Fuck!"_

_He gripped her hips roughly and thrust up into her, watching as the younger brunette's lips parted at the feeling growing in her stomach as she felt herself heating up. "You're so beautiful," the injured man whispered lovingly, letting her do most of the work in his hospital bed._

_Emily cried out, her eyes rolling back in her head as her body started to convulse._

"Excuse me? Emily?"

The brunette's eyes immediately flickered up from the papers in her lap and turned to face the voice, smiling wide at the paralyzed man who was being wheeled out of his hospital room. "Aaron, how are you feeling today?" It was two weeks after she had contacted his ex and today was the day to finally get him home.

The father of one smiled wide to the younger woman. "A lot better."

"You just want to get out of here," she chuckled, standing from her spot behind the front desk.

"Wouldn't you?"

Emily let herself smile at the older man when she heard the sad chuckle escape him, and she grabbed her coat from the back of her chair. "Well, now you get to spend a whole year with me, at least. You better get used to this face around."

Aaron laughed at the self-consciousness begin to set into the beautiful nurse's features. "I wouldn't want anyone else with me," he told her truthfully. She had helped him so much throughout the last two weeks that he was sure if anyone else were to try and take him on, he'd have to grab his gun and shoot them right there.

He wanted her.

Emily's dark eyes flashed as she smiled his way. "Let's get you out of here."

Twenty-six minutes later and they were at his house, Emily jumping out of her car and running to the passenger's side to help the older man out of his seat. "You good?" she grunted, putting him into the wheelchair she had taken from the back of her car and quickly set up. "Do you want the buckle on or no? I can see there are steps to get up to your front door."

The father of one shook his head. "There's a ramp around back I had installed for my father before he passed."

Nodding, the beautiful brunette woman rolled her patient into the backyard and up the ramp, taking the key from his hand so she could slide open the kitchen doors. "Anything I can get you?"

"No," he sighed. "I want to see if I can get around the hallways and fit my chair through."

"I'll just get the rest of your things from the car, alright?"

Aaron listened as his nurse walked back outside and left him alone in his kitchen, and his sad eyes looked up toward the shelves he could no longer reach and the drawings set up on the fridge, done by his son, which he now had to look up at instead of down upon.

How was he supposed to try and get his normal life back when everything that he's ever done can no longer be done that way again?

"Surprise!"

Aaron's eyes widened at the faces that popped up from behind the counters and the hallway, his hands tightening around the arms of his wheelchair. "Hi," he choked out, his usually stoic side hiding as tears filled his eyes. "What are you all doing here? How did you know I was coming home today?"

Reid came up and set the cake before the leader of his team, sad to see the man he had looked up to his entire career was now looking down to him.

"Haley tipped us off," the Italian of the group laughed. "She said she was busy, but we put everything aside to be here for you."

Aaron looked down to the chocolate cake sitting on his kitchen table. "Thank you."

"Alright Aaron, just give me directions to the bedroom and I'll put everything away," a strained voice came as it entered the kitchen.

"Who's this?" the eldest of Aaron's team smirked, watching as a beautiful woman came walking into the kitchen with her nurse's uniform on. "New friend, Aaron?"

Emily set down both the suitcases in her hands and looked around the room. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were supposed to be having company today."

"Neither did I."

The brunette shook everyone's hand, her eyes widening when she noticed a familiar face smiling her way. "Detective Morgan, hello," she grinned. "I had no idea you were here in D.C."

Morgan laughed. "It's agent now, Nurse Prentiss."

"Please, call me Emily."

Aaron looked up, watching the interaction between his friend and newly found nurse. "You two know each other?"

Morgan finally let go of the beautiful woman's hand and looked down to his boss. "I had a case back here when I was in Chicago PD, we had to chase a man across state lines. He fled to D.C and shot at me, and this fine woman took care of me while I was healing."

The brunette's lashes fluttered against her cheeks as she blushed, embarrassed with all the eyes on her. She was here for Aaron, but feeling his eyes darkening on her figure, she wasn't so sure she could compete with all the attention he had buzzing around him.


	8. Chapter 8

They had been living at his home for six days now, and Aaron could feel himself growing angrier by the minute. He couldn't do any of the things he used to without the assistance of his nurse, and although lovely, he wished she didn't have to be by his side every second of the day.

Right now he was being helped out of his tub with a towel wrapped around him as he had been every day since he'd been home. He had to depend on the strong brunette woman when he normally would depend only on himself.

Everyone else he had ever depended on left. He was sure she would too.

He had broken a plate that morning as he tried to get his own breakfast, and as his nurse bent down to try and pick up the broken pieces, he banged his chair into the wall.

Emily had to drive to the hospital to get him a new one.

"You're good," she cooed gently, trying to be soothing but not as to anger the FBI agent more than he already was as she helped him into his chair. Buckling him in so he wouldn't slip on the now wet material, the brunette woman let him roll himself out into the hall. "Can you get to the room or did we forget to keep it open again?"

Aaron shook his head as he heard the doorbell ring. "I'll be fine. Can you just get the door, please?"

Emily cleaned herself off with a small towel before making her way down the stairs, pulling the front door open to see the familiar blond boy standing on the front porch. "Mr. Jack," she beamed, happily letting him jump into her arms. "How have you been, buddy?"

"So good!"

The blue eyed woman standing with the backpack in her hands smiled tightly to the younger woman. "Nurse Prentiss," she nodded in greeting. "A little wet, are we?"

Emily's eyes flickered down to see that her pants and a portion of her shirt were stained with sudsy water marks, and a blush creeped across her cheeks. "Bath time can be messy, Ms. Brooks."

Haley handed the bag off to her son. "Well where is Aaron?"

"Upstairs. He is getting ready for his weekend with Jack and he is very excited," she informed the four year old at her side with a smile.

"Can I go see daddy, Emily?"

The nurse let both blondes into the house. "You wait right here for a minute, alright? I just have to go and see if he's ready." She jogged back up the stairs and knocked on the door that stood at the end of the hall. "Are you decent?"

Haley forced herself not to glare after the woman, knowing that she had and would continue to see the father of her son naked.

Fucking whore.

Emily opened up the bedroom door before quickly closing it behind her, making sure to lock it in case Jack escaped his mother and felt like going on a hunt for his daddy. "Good job," the ivory woman smiled when she saw him with his shirt and socks on, his now dried body sitting on his bed. "You're getting better at lifting yourself from the chair."

"And I got most of my clothes on," he nodded.

Emily smirked when she saw him trying to cover himself up, the part that was standing attention due to the brisk wind that was traveling through the open window. "So how'd you get your socks on?" she mused, taking out a pair of boxers and some jeans from the older man's dresser drawers.

Aaron gestured to picking up his leg. "Got it on my lap, got the sock on and then it fell to the ground."

The nurse with the dark eyes gave him a reassuring nod as she bent down in front of him to get his legs through the correct leg holes of his boxers. "It happens."

He coughed, lifting himself up with his hands so she could get the material over his hips. "I apologize," the father of one spoke up, "for earlier. I didn't mean to get angry like that. It never should have happened."

"Patients get frustrated. It's nothing to be sorry about."

"I scared you," Aaron spoke quietly.

Emily bit her lip, keeping her eyes away from those of the handsome agent. "You put a hole in the wall."

"I'm so sorry."

She gave a pat to his leg before helping him with his jeans. "Your son is here," she smiled, changing the subject as she helped him back into his chair. "You button yourself up and I'll let him run up here."

Aaron laughed. "He's excited, huh?"

"Pretty excited. What about you?" She could see the happiness in his eyes at the mention of his son.

He nodded, meeting the eyes of the brunette before him as he felt like reaching out to take her hand. "I am very excited."

Emily quickly moved away from him, hearing the chair rolling up behind her as she made her way out into the hall. "Jack honey, your daddy is ready to see you! You want to come up here?" A smile spread over her features when she heard his little feet scampering up the stairs, and she had to stop him right before her so he didn't crash into the chair. "Remember to be careful, ok?"

Jack gave a vigorous nod before walking over to his father and letting him lift him onto his lap. "Hi daddy!" he cheered, throwing his arms around his father's neck. "Did you miss me?"

"Of course I did. Did you miss me?"

The blond boy nodded into his father's neck.

Aaron grinned. "How much?"

The four year old pulled away and let his arms shoot out to stretch as wide as they could. "This much!"

"This much?" he asked astonished, stretching his arms out just as his son was doing.

"This much, daddy!"

Aaron made a surprised face before taking the blue eyed blond back into his arms, shaking his laughing body and tickling at his sides.

Emily's teeth gnawed into her bottom lip as she watched the exchange, loving the playful side of the angry man she had come to know earlier that day.

"Aaron? I have to get going."

The injured man looked up from his son in his lap, making eye contact with the woman he had fallen in love with back in high school. "Well thank you for bringing him, Haley."

"I'll pick him up at eight on Monday," she nodded, giving the nurse standing by her ex a dirty look before walking back downstairs. "Bye baby."

"Bye mommy!" Jack turned in his father's lap and looked up to the agent's brown eyes. "Can we go downstairs and play, daddy? Mommy got me new legos."

Emily lifted the four year old from his father's lap and set him on the ground. "Why don't you go downstairs, ok? I have to help your daddy down and it'll be easier with you getting your toys set up."

"Can I watch?"

The nurse paused, looking to the man in his wheelchair with a shrug. "Ask your daddy."

Aaron looked from his son to the nurse, and then back to his son, nodding his head when he saw the fascination in his son's eyes. "Of course, buddy. Just back up from the stairs in case I trip, ok?"

Emily waited until the young boy had run back down the stairs and gotten out of the way before she rolled Aaron's chair toward the stairs. She helped him from the chair after she locked the wheels and had his arm around her shoulders, her right around his waist and her hand on the banister. "Good?"

"Good," he agreed, holding onto the younger woman so he didn't topple over.

"Just keep your hold on me and we'll be fine," the brunette said shakily, doing her best to help the agent down the stairs, afraid she would lose her grip on him with his son watching just a few feet away. She didn't need to scar the little boy for life.

Aaron brought his lips to her ear as the went down one step, and he held on tighter. "I know you've got me."

Emily let herself breathe a sigh of relief when they were finally down the stairs, and she set him on the couch with her sparkling smile glaring in his brown eyes. "I got you."


	9. Chapter 9

Jack shook his head when the newcomer to his father's home showed him the next flash card.

"Do you know what this is?" she questioned, making sure to peek at the letter written across the paper to see if she had picked up the right one.

"No."

Aaron watched on from his spot by the counter, letting the woman he had let into his home help his son as he made the lunch for them that day. "Come on bud, you remember it."

Jack itched his blond head, his eyes focusing hard on the letter that was scribbled on the card. "I don't remember, daddy."

"Well Jack, do you remember the letter you just read before?"

"B," the four year old nodded, looking up to the smiling woman who sat across from him at the kitchen table.

Emily gave a reassuring grin. "So what comes after that?"

Jack paused, his eyes darting around the room before his face lit up. "C!"

"Great job, buddy!" Emily reached forward and gave the young boy a high-five. "See, I told you that you could get it. It takes a little practice but you're doing great."

"Daddy, I did it!"

Aaron nodded, smiling to his son from his spot by the counter. "I know, bud. You remember what we said when you can get to the seventh letter?"

The blond boy's blue eyes lit up. "I get a apple candy?" His grandmother had gotten the sweet young boy addicted to candy apple flavored treats that had at least fifty grams of sugar in each piece, and Aaron had promised his son that if he got to at least seven letters and memorized them all by the next month, he'd get one of those apple candies.

"That's right. Now you finish that for a minute and eat your food," the single father smiled, rolling over to the table and setting the plate he had in his lap in front of the four year old.

"Is it jelly, daddy?"

"Only strawberry jelly for my boy," the paralyzed man nodded affirmatively, feeling Emily push his chair into the table as she got the rest of the food.

Emily cleaned up the knives that had been used for each of the sandwiches and put everything else into the cabinet, making sure the entire counter in the kitchen had been wiped down before she made her way toward the living room.

"Hey," Aaron called, frowning at the younger woman as he took a bite of her sandwich. "Where are you going?"

The brunette froze, turning around to face the injured man with a shocked look on her face. "What do you mean? You're having lunch."

Aaron presented another plate that he had been hiding on his lap and grinned, setting it down on the placemat on the other end of the table. "And so are you."

Emily's fingers twiddled in front of her stomach as she kept herself standing in the doorway.

"Come eat, Emily!"

Aaron shared a nod with his son. "Yeah, come on and eat, Emily."

The nurse held in her sigh before sitting herself down at the kitchen table. "I should really get to fixing that hole," she tried, not wanting to get in the way of the father and son bonding that she knew was supposed to happen over this weekend.

"You should really put something in your stomach if you're going to spend the rest of the day with this tiger here," the older man smirked, sharing a wink with his son. "I will help you with the hole later."

Emily bit down into her lip to keep from protesting, knowing very well that the FBI agent wouldn't be able to help her with fixing the hole because it was way down by the floor, and took the sandwich into her hands. "Thank you."

Throughout the day, Emily tried her best to keep her distance from the pair and let them have their day together, but she continued to get dragged into playing with legos or watching a funny movie by the cute little boy who had already gotten her wrapped around his little finger. But at bedtime, she walked in on the man she was supposed to be helping sitting by himself on the couch. "Hey," she greeted quietly, not wanting to scare the older man from his thoughts as she inched closer to him. "Is everything alright?"

"Jack needs to go to bed."

Emily frowned, nodding at the statement. "Of course, you told me the time."

Aaron ran his hands over his face. "Can you do it for me?"

The brunette's eyes grew sad at the desperation she heard in the older man's voice, and she knelt down before him. "What is it?"

"He has bunkbeds," Aaron said quietly, ashamed that he was feeling this way. "He likes to sleep on the top bunk and I get up there with him and read him a story. I can't do that anymore."

Emily ran her fingers lightly over the agent's calloused hand before she got him out of his chair and helped him up to his bed, promising to be right back as she got Jack out of the den. "Come on Mr. Jack, it's time for bed."

"You sure, Emily?"

"I'm sure," she laughed, knowing what the little trickster was doing. "Your daddy told me what time you go to bed, now let's get that butt upstairs." She let him say goodnight to his father before they ventured off to his room, Emily helping him up the ladder to get into the top bed. "You ready to get some sleep?"

Jack pouted. "Do I gotta?"

Emily shared a sad look with the young boy before tucking him in. "Yeah, I think so. You want to have some fun with dad tomorrow, right?"

"Yup!"

"Then you should go to bed so we can do this all again!" she chuckled, grabbing a book from the foot of the barred bed and opening it up. "Your daddy loves you a lot, buddy," the nurse said smiling, seeing the sad look in the four year old's eyes. "He's trying his best to do what he used to, you know that."

Jack's tired eyes blinked at the older woman.

Emily laughed, setting down the book and fluffing the little boy's pillow. "Maybe no story for tonight, you look tired. Goodnight Jack."

"Emily?"

Her dark head popped back up, looking to the four year old who was now sitting up on his elbow. "What's up, honey?"

Jack looked as if he were questioning something before opening his mouth back up. "Are you gonna be here a long time?" he asked quietly, as if he were afraid someone would walk in and hear him telling her a secret.

Emily found her lips curling into a small smile, and she reached forward to take his small hand in hers. "I'm gonna be here for a long time, sweetie. I need to help your dad."

"Is he gonna be hurt forever?"

"Buddy," she whispered, leaning into the bed to get closer to the young boy, "your daddy got really hurt. It's gonna be hard for him to get better, but I think that he's doing a really great job so far." The nurse gave him a small smile when he nodded back to her. "And you know how you can help?"

Jack's eyes widened.

"You can give him all the best hugs that you can muster, and you can make him smile when it doesn't look like he wants to. He really needs that right now, ok?"

Jack stuck his hand out to the older woman. "Got it!"

Emily laughed, shaking the young boy's hand before wishing him a goodnight and making her way back to her patient's room. "Aaron?" she questioned gently before opening up the door, looking through the dark room as she closed the door behind her. Her heart dropped.

He was sitting back against his headboard, his head bent down to his lap.

"Aaron?"

He looked up from his hands and sniffled, finding the younger woman's eyes through the moonlight that filtered into his room.

Emily's jaw dropped when she saw the tear marks running down his face, and she slowly made her way over to the bed. Nodding to the spot next to him, she got herself onto the bed and wrapped her arms around his shaking shoulders, letting him almost deflate in her hold as he cried.


	10. Chapter 10

Blinking slowly to get her eyes to readjust to the light coming into her new room, what had been the second guest room in the Hotchner household, Emily ran her hands down her tired features. She had unintentionally fallen asleep with her patient the night before, her head landing on his shoulder after a short while of hugging him to stop him from crying.

She had woken up an hour afterwards and had quietly gotten herself up out of the comfortable bed, something she truly didn't want to do, and pulled the covers over the older man before heading down the hallway to get herself ready for bed.

Hearing a knock on the door Emily sat up, pulling the robe from the small ottoman beside her bed and putting in on so she could get up. "Aaron?" she questioned, taking a peek at the clock to see that it was only seven o'clock. She opened the door and her eyes widened, coming face to face with the four year old boy staying in the house for the weekend. "Hi sweetie, what are you doing up?"

Jack gestured for the woman to come down to his level.

Emily gave a small nod, kneeling before the little blond boy and sweeping his hair from his eyes. "You woke up pretty early, huh?"

"I heard daddy."

The brunette woman frowned. "Heard him?"

Jack nodded.

Emily ushered the young boy back into his bedroom before knocking on her patient's door, opening it up just a crack so she could peek her head inside. "Aaron, is everything alright?" Her dark brown eyes latched onto the fumbling figure in the middle of the king sized bed and ran inside the room, kneeling on the edge of the mattress and leaning over her patient. "Aaron? Aaron can you hear me?"

The older man's arms retched themselves from her hold, his neck straining as his body arched.

Emily felt herself panic. She had never had to wake someone from a nightmare before, and having the stronger man fighting her wasn't going to make it easy. "Come on Aaron, wake up," she tried, putting one hand to his chest as she tried to hold him down and stop his movements.

"Daddy?"

"Jack, go back to your room," the nurse rushed out, her head swinging to the side when Aaron's fist came up and wacked her hard across the face.

The young boy's eyes widened, seeing his father finally spring up in his bed and Emily bringing a hand up to cover her cheek. "Daddy!"

Emily held back her tears as she met the eyes of the older man, noticing the pain she saw in his eyes. "Jack buddy, go back to your room."

Aaron watched the four year old run from the room and he sat himself up. "What happened?" he asked desperately, watching as his nurse quickly hid the pain she had written all over her face. "Emily, what happened?"

"You were having a nightmare."

His brown eyes darkened at the sight of the red mark on the younger woman's cheek.

Emily quickly shook her head at the look on his face, and she put her hand on his chest. "It's fine, I'm not hurt. Let me help you out of bed."

He took her wrist in his hand when she tried to stand up from the bed, his body aching as he sat up with only one hand supporting him. "Emily, please listen to me. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know you didn't," the nurse consented, leaning forward and taking the older man into what felt like a hug as she tried to sit him up against the headboard of his bed. "You were having a nightmare, ok? You were sleeping, and I was just trying to wake you up."

Aaron cursed himself as he was helped into his wheelchair, and he watched as the saddened woman walked back to her room to get herself dressed for the day so he could speak with his son. "Buddy?" he tried, opening up his son's bedroom door. "Jack, can I come in?"

"Come in, daddy."

He rolled himself inside the room, seeing the four year old cuddled up on his life-sized bear in the corner of his room, trying his best to read the book he had opened in his lap. "What are you reading, there?"

Jack kept his eyes down on the book he had with him. "The monkey book."

"That's your favorite," he smiled.

"Yeah."

Aaron held in his sigh as he heard his nurse down the hall venture into the bathroom, probably to put on her face for the day. He knew she didn't need the makeup because she was extremely beautiful, but now because of what he had done to her cheek the younger woman was probably putting on a double coat of coverup. "Buddy, I need to talk to you."

Jack paused before looking up to his father. "You hurt Emily, daddy."

"I was having a bad dream, buddy. I reacted in a way that I never would have if I were awake, you know that right?"

Jack nodded his small head.

"I should have never done that, even if it was a mistake," Aaron nodded, letting his son climb on top of him once he finally felt comfortable. "Why don't you and I go and try and cheer Emily up, huh? You want to do that?"

The four year old grinned up to the sad man. "Ok daddy!" He jumped off of his now laughing father's lap and ran to the second floor bathroom, ramming into the brunette woman's lean legs. "Hi!"

Emily smoothed the makeup over her face before looking down to the little boy beside her. "Hey buddy," the nurse smiled, hiking him onto her hip.

"Daddy says sorry."

The brown eyed woman let Jack lean into her neck, and her chin rested on top of his head as she looked at their reflection staring back at them. "I know, sweetie. Daddy didn't mean to."

Jack leaned up and pressed a small kiss against the beautiful woman's injured cheek, and he missed the tears that sprang into her eyes as he hugged her. "Love you, Emily."


	11. Chapter 11

"Lift," Emily instructed, watching from her spot kneeling before the older man who grasped the arms of his wheelchair.

Aaron's face contorted in concentration as he lifted his leg from his chair, feeling the muscles in his thigh twisting and aching as they tried to pick up the now dead weight they had to carry.

The brunette nodded. "Good." She watched as the paralyzed part of his leg just dangle there, and she helped him set it back down. "Now the other leg."

Jack smiled around the straw in his juicebox. "Go daddy!"

Aaron felt himself smile at the sound of his son cheering him on from the other side of the living room, and he did the same thing with his left leg. He could feel the muscles up near his pelvis begin sputtering when he held up his leg longer than he had the other one, and when Emily pushed his leg back down so it sat correctly in his chair, he grinned.

The nurse could see that the older man was proud of himself, and she gave a pat to his knee. "You did it."

"Yeah," the father breathed, letting his son give him a high-five. "How do you think I did, bud?"

Jack rubbed his small hand over his father's arm. "Really good, daddy."

Emily took the paper that she had been writing on for their physical therapy treatments and scribbled down a new note.

"So?"

She looked up, her dark hair brushing against the back of her neck as her ponytail swung behind her head, and her eyes connected with those of Aaron. "What?"

"What happens next?"

Emily held in her sigh before shaking her head, moving the four year old with them off to the side so she could unlock the wheels of her patient's chair. "Aaron, you're doing great with the exercises so far."

Aaron frowned at the answer he was given. "So what's the next one?"

"Just because you did it nicely right now doesn't mean that that's it for that exercise. We have to do the same thing for months on end, Aaron," the brunette woman tried to let down nicely, avoiding the eyes of the older man so she didn't have to see the pain she knew was going to be in his eyes.

"So that's it?"

Emily bit her lip, glancing up to the paralyzed man. "We're going to do more exercises, alright? I can't tire you out all at once, though."

Aaron shook his head. "I'm not tired."

"Your leg was shaking pretty badly," the nurse sighed, taking out the medication that she had been given by the doctors for Aaron to try out. "It's not my job to get you through this as fast as possible, but as seamlessly as possible." She saw the anger steaming in him, and she set a hand to his knee. "Aaron, I get that this can be stressful. This is just the beginning, and you're going to have to understand that nothing is going to happen as fast as you want it to. I'm sorry."

The single father felt himself frowning a little too hard at the news, and he gave a stiff shake of the head. "I'm sorry," he ground out.

"You're sorry?"

Aaron paused before nodding. "I always do things fast, I like things done the way I think they should be done. But this is your job."

Emily found herself smiling at the words dripping from the older man's mouth, and she gave him the small blue pill with a glass of water. "Thank you for understanding that."

An hour later, Jack was gone off with his mother to daycare and Emily was helping Aaron into the bath, her shaking hands fighting to stay on his back and side where she knew she needed to keep them so he would be safe.

"I'm sorry," the agent laughed, finally slipping into the water and looking up at the brunette above him.

Emily slowly nodded her head. "Are you ok?" He had been acting a little strange after taking the test medication she had given him, and she was wondering if maybe she had mixed up someone else's pills back at the hospital.

Aaron gave a grin that a child would give and grabbed onto the younger woman's hand, pulling her down toward the tub.

She gasped, her eyes widening as she fell into the water and her hand brushed hard against the older man's penis. "Oh my God!" she shrieked, pulling her hands from the soapy water and quickly finding herself a towel. "I am so sorry."

"You're so pretty."

Emily looked to the older man to see the silly grin slapped across his face, and she cursed herself. She was going to have to deal with this for a while.


	12. Chapter 12

Sighing against the phone in her hand, the dark haired nurse tried her best to keep the jittering man at her side to stop from poking her in the arm. "Dr. Herman," she tried, "are you sure there are no other side effects to the drug?"

"The one we've given him to test has what I have told you before, Nurse Prentiss. There may be fatigue, dizziness and vomiting right after ingesting the drug, and afterward there is a possibility of hyperactivity and delusions."

Emily glanced at the smiling man beside her.

"How long has he been on the medication?"

"About eight hours now," the nurse nodded, checking her watch to make sure she was correct on her timing. "He hasn't been able to keep his food down and I'm going to administer an IV for him."

Dr. Herman gave a small shake of the head. "I'll be sure to send over a nurse with a new medication in the morning."

"Thank you, doctor." Emily hung up her phone and turned in her seat. "Ok, give me the thermometer."

Aaron took the stick from under his tongue and handed it to the younger brunette, watching as she read the number written in the digital box. "Good?"

Emily slowly shook her head. "You have a small fever." She got herself up off of the bed and took the IV pole that she had dragged upstairs earlier that day. "Do you have to use the bathroom? I'd rather you go now than have to in an hour when your IV is administered."

His eyes shot up from the nurse's breasts she had been staring at and put on a smile. "I'm alright."

The younger brunette gave a cautious smile, slipping a bedpan just underneath his slightly elevated body as a precaution.

"What's wrong?"

Emily kept herself quiet as she got the IV bag hooked onto the pole she had brought up into the bedroom, and she walked away into the master bathroom to get the needles ready. "What do you mean?"

Aaron watched the brunette from his spot in his bed. "You seem upset. Have I done something?"

"Come on," she smiled, wrapping her patient's arm tightly in a washcloth she had found in the linen closet so she could get his veins to come out. "Keep your arm steady for me, alright? I don't need to miss your vein and have to try again."

Aaron's eyes softened on the woman who had promised to stay with him throughout his treatment. "Is it because I can't see straight right now?"

Emily's head shot up. "You can't see straight?"

"There are two of you," he nodded. When he felt her move around beside him, his hand quickly grabbed hers. "No, I'm ok. Keep going."

"Aaron, I need you to lie down."

Aaron ran his fingers over the creases in his forehead. "Can you please just give me the IV? I'm tired."

Emily slowly nodded her head at the question, helping the older man lie back against the headboard with his pillows surrounding him. She knew that if he were coherent, he would never let her move him and help him the way she was helping him. "Keep your arm still for me."

"I didn't mean to make you upset."

"I'm not upset," she tried to soothe, rubbing the alcohol swab over the skin of Aaron's inner elbow. "Stay still."

Aaron kept his eyes trained on the beautiful woman's features as she pushed the needle into his vein. "You're beautiful." The tone of his voice sent shivers down the nurse's spine, and he could tell he had struck a chord with her when she seemed to twitch.

Emily let out a breath, her tongue swiping over the flesh of her bottom lip.

"Did you hear me?"

The ivory woman looked up from the needle she had taped to the injection site and set her hand over the older brunette's. "I did," the nurse nodded, pulling the comforter up for him because his arm would be painful to move for a while. "Get some sleep, alright?"

Aaron let his fist curl into the material of the blanket. "Emily?"

"Yes?" she whispered, her body slowly spinning in the dark room.

Aaron hesitated. "Do you like me?"

The younger of the pair gave a small smile. "I do."

"Will you sit with me?"

Emily's lashes fluttered at the request. "Of course I will." She sat herself down in the chair beside her patient's bed and let him take her hand, and she watched as he slowly drifted off to sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

"I didn't know that," the nurse whispered quietly, not wanting to disturb the peaceful quiet in the room. She and Aaron had been talking for hours, her having come into his room when she heard something crash around one in the morning.

Emily had picked up a glass that had fallen from his nightstand when her patient had reached for it during the night, and she had sat down beside the bed to wait until he fell back to sleep. But they had started talking, her hand somehow finding its way to his and holding on as they spoke, whispered words traveling through the air as their eyes kept contact.

"How long were you stationed?"

Aaron made a small move to get comfortable against his pillow, his butt beginning to grow numb. "I was in Afghanistan for nine months before I went to Pakistan."

Emily kept her eyes soft on the older man, running her thumb along Aaron's coarse knuckles. She could tell that the medication was finally wearing off. "So you stopped being a lawyer, went to serve for our country and then ended up as Unit Chief of the Behavioral Analysis Unit?"

"Busy life," the single father chucked lifelessly. He lifted his other arm. "A small token of my time there."

The younger brunette let her eyes flicker from his to the other side of his body, getting up from her seat and kneeling on the bed so she could get a better look. Her legs straddled the right knee of the Unit Chief to see what he was intent on showing her, and she let her fingers trace over the large scar that sat jagged underneath his armpit. "What happened?" What was once an angry red mark was now white and sleek looking, just popping up from the surface of his skin.

Aaron forced himself not to shiver at the touch of the younger woman. "That little bugger won me my Purple Heart."

Emily felt her breath leave her.

"I was headed into a surprise attack mission with twenty other men in my unit, and when we were getting out of our vehicle, someone stepped on a landmine. We don't know if it was Ryan or Mander," he said, shaking his head, "but they were both obliterated. A piece of shrapnel flew up and cut me, going inside and just barely missing my heart."

The brunette woman found herself settling down on the paralyzed man's leg. "How long were you in the hospital?"

"Three weeks in ICU and then two more weeks to get myself stable and able to move my arm correctly again," the older man said with a desolate chime.

Emily tried for a small smirk. "You gotta stop doing this," she laughed, moving her hands from his war wound to the leg she barely hovered over.

Aaron's room was filled with the patient's happy laughter, his dark eyes squinting just slightly as the joy filled him. Emily loved seeing him like that. "Right, well I apologize that I keep getting hurt. I'll try not to do it anymore."

She let him take the tips of her fingers and gently tap a tune against the skin there, and she felt a heat begin to grow in her coiling stomach. "So does Jack know what his daddy's been through in his short life?"

"Short life? I'm fifty-one."

Emily raised her hand beside her head. "Thirty-seven. And you don't seem a day over my age."

"Liar," the older man scoffed. "But no, Jack doesn't know what happened to me back in Pakistan. I didn't want him to know that I had gotten hurt, so when he found my medal, I told him that my superiors just really liked me."

The nurse sitting with her patient on his bed shared a smile with him. "You were top solider so you got a shiny prize, huh?"

"Exactly." He gave a shrug, sighing when the realization came to him. "But I lost it."

"You lost your medal?"

Aaron kept his eyes down on his hands that were playing with hers and let his brow raise. "We moved when Jack was only a few months old, and I had packed it one of the boxes, I'm sure of it. But when we were unpacking in our new place, I couldn't find it."

Emily watched as his face fell. "I'm so sorry."

The older man took a moment before shaking his head, looking back up to the brunette before him with a smile. "So I made you touch my penis, huh?"

"Ok first off," the brunette laugh, going along with the change of subject to please her patient, "you did not make me touch your penis. You made me fall into the tub, and I ended up touching you on my own."

"So should I be flattered?"

Emily pursed her lips to keep herself from laughing at the older man's face. "I would think embarrassed."

The single father connected his eyes with the beautiful woman. "I'm going with flattered."

Emily laughed, glancing over to the alarm clock that sat on her patient's bedside table. "You should really get some sleep," she said frowning, noticing how long they'd been awake. It was going to be a tiring day having to take the new medication being brought over and having to continue with their physical therapy.

"What's one more hour?"

The brunette reluctantly got herself of off Aaron's leg and sat beside him on the bed, her back resting against the headboard. "You could be sleeping while we're up talking."

Aaron grinned. "Is that code for, 'Aaron, leave me alone and get your ass in your bed'?"

Emily's eyes widened as she laughed. "You're already in your bed, smart one. Just get some sleep, ok?"

He watched as her hips covered by those flannel pajama pants seemed to sway and she walked out of his room, and he found himself exhaling and slithering down into a sleeping position under his covers. How was he supposed to stay sane with that beautiful woman peeking around every corner?

He was falling for her fast.

Emily quickly closed the door to her bedroom and let her back fall against it, a breath leaving her when she felt herself throb. She was falling for him.


	14. Chapter 14

Emily helped Jack down from the counter before making her way over to the older man by the fridge. "Jack, remember to go wash your hands." She had realized she turned into more of a nanny than just a nurse, looking out for the blond boy because his father couldn't, but she found that she didn't seem to mind. "We can't have your hands dirty for cookies, ok?"

The four year old readily nodded his head before scampering off down the hall.

Aaron looked up from the decorations he had taken from the box and smiled to the younger woman. "Thank you for helping us with this," he grinned. "Sugar cookies are his favorite Christmas tradition."

Emily shared a smile with the older man as she got the flour spread out over the counter. "It's one of mine too. My father used to always take off time from work to help me with baking cookies in our embassy's kitchen."

The paralyzed man nodded, taking his new pill with a glass of water. The nurse had told him just a week ago about her parents and how they were ambassadors, taking her and traveling all throughout the world and into different countries as she grew up.

"How has that new medicine been making you feel?" the brunette asked, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. "You haven't complained about anything."

Aaron gave a shake of the head. "I've been feeling fine. They make me feel stronger."

The younger woman could see the triumphant smile on Aaron's face, and she smiled back. "And right after the cookies go in, we'll do your exercises."

"Can't wait."

Jack came barreling back into the kitchen and slammed himself into the nurse's lean legs, giggling when she picked him up and tickled at his tummy. "Ready?"

"Ready, bud," she grinned.

Two and a half hours later, half the cookies that were supposed to be put out for Santa had been eaten between the three of them and Jack was finally in bed. Aaron had made his way up the stairs faster than he had any of the other nights, and he had clung onto Emily when they reached the top as if he'd drop her instead of vice versa.

He hugged the life out of her, and as she changed into her pajamas in her room down the hall, the nurse's cheeks burned a bright red.

Emily held her breath as she made her way toward her patient's bedroom, her fist knocking just lightly on the wooden door. "Aaron? Are you sleeping?"

"No, come in."

She opened up the door and smiled at his body in the center of his bed, flipping through the channels to get something to fall asleep to. "Hey," she breathed, hiding the small box behind her back. "Did I disturb you?"

"No more than the snowstorm outside," the paralyzed man laughed. "What is it?"

Emily smiled, her feet slowly padding across the wood panels of the bedroom floor before she sat herself in the chair beside his bed. "Tomorrow is Christmas, and I know you want to spend the day focused on Jack and what you have for him, so I thought I'd give you your present now."

Aaron slowly shook his head. "I didn't get you anything." They weren't close enough for that, were they?

The younger brunette shook her head, her bright smile radiating around the dark room. "I don't need anything," she shrugged. "But I really want you to have this."

Aaron let her place the box in his hands and he gave it a good two minutes before he took his eyes away from hers. What was he supposed to do?

"Open it," the brown eyed woman chuckled.

Giving her a smile, the older man lifted the top of the box off and set it beside him, his dark eyes staring down with tears stinging in the corners. "What is this?" He wasn't even sure that was his voice speaking, cracking from the emotion he couldn't hold back.

Emily bit her lip. "You said you lost yours, and I know that it's something that can't be replaced but I hope this comes pretty close."

The FBI agent shook his head. "How did you do this?" Picking up the medal, he read his name and combat date inscribed on the back. It was an exact replica."

"I made a call," she stated quietly. "Merry Christmas."

Aaron reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her down gently so she sat right by his bedside. "Thank you," he nodded emotionally, bringing her closer to him so he could press his lips to her cheek. "Thank you."


End file.
